you celebrated far from the madding crowds! I love the wave, more cheerful than anything on a Rose Prd float. did I tell you that in college I took a hiking class & we went up to Mt. Wilson from Chantry Flats & on the way back, took a wrong turn, ended up taking the fire road to Altadena, somewhere near a dairy, in the dark...our instructor was in tears esp. since we left a couple of hikers on top. We were all fine & it was a really good lesson whether she intended it or not.PS I could so see you living in a lighthouse - with even longer hair. Happy, happy 2009 2 U!

K, that latest photo is just, just everything nightime. PA, that was a nightmare in pink. Vanda, throwing salt over your shoulder keeps the superstitions away. Laurie, South Pas is lucky to have you. Susan, I'm going to try your cheap cava alternative, because the good thing about New Year's on Thursday, is that it's New Years for the rest of the week. WC (oh, that's not right), you're a marshmallow. And Tash, I have a feeling you're the kind of person things happen to. Ditto Virginia.

Pinter's only son Daniel Brand, 50, who never forgave his father for leaving his mother Vivien Merchant for Lady Antonia in the mid 1970s, did not attend the burial.

Sir Michael Gambon, 68, who acted in many of Pinter's productions, opened the series of grave-side readings with an extract from his play No Man's Land.

While addressing the mourners, Sir Michael recited a passage from No Man's Land.

"Allow the love of the good ghost. They possess all that emotion trapped. Bow to it. It will assuredly never release them, but who knows what relief it may give to them, who knows how they may quicken in their chains, in their glass jars?" the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

Pinter, who died on Christmas Eve aged 78, after a long battle with cancer, had perhaps realised that his fight was drawing to a close, which is why he asked Sir Michael to read the lines at his funeral about three months ago.

Speaking about the funeral arrangements, Matthew 'Harry' Burton, who worked with Pinter and also shared his great passion cricket, said: "He seems to have given very precise instructions. I believe the funeral will be carried out to his instructions."

The mourners finally bade goodbye to the man who was regarded as one of the most important playwrights of the post-war era, who turned down a knighthood, and who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005.]

In the late 50's while in the military as a 15th Air Force Bugler, I did many parades, funerals, and anything the required the strong sensitive lips of the resident tooter. I was never near the good stuff, however. Who wants to see a small squad of airmen, a few flags and a few tooters. We were generally so close to the end of the line that we didn't get to see anything of note. From this experience, I entered my first 12 step recovery program.